


& i may go to places i've never been

by phosphenical



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Gen, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Navigating what to do when your childhood hero turns out to suck, Post-Canon, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21737314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phosphenical/pseuds/phosphenical
Summary: (just to find)It was immediately the wrong thing to say and Lio regretted it before he even finished saying it. Something in Galo’s expression flashed hurt before it became guarded. Galo was always an open book. Right now, he looked like someone else entirely.
Relationships: Lio Fotia & Galo Thymos
Comments: 5
Kudos: 146





	& i may go to places i've never been

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this back in october and finally typed it up after redux - surprise! this got so close to being a get-together fic but the ending wanted to happen organically and i decided i'd be gay in another work even though they both essentially acknowledge romantic feelings (to themselves, at least.)
> 
> the inspiration for this was that i wanted to explore galo specifically healing from the movie events. i also want to do a flip-side with lio at some point but i won't get ahead of myself a;sdkfj

Galo’s been off. It was impossible to miss, and even worse yet — impossible to _ignore._ Lio already felt like he was stretched to his breaking point; becoming a political figurehead not only for his displaced people, but also for the ones that used to press the weight of their metaphorical heels down on them until they snapped.

He barely had time to breathe, much less deal with the strange, far-off look in Galo’s impossibly blue eyes and the way he was closed off in a manner that seemed out of character for him. Lio _would_ know this because he lived with him. At first it was out of convenience — the shelters were frantic with finding the space for thousands of refugees now homeless. They didn’t need to worry about another mouth on top of it.

And now...well, it was still mostly out of convenience, but Lio had also learned how much Galo hated to be alone. He never mentioned it, not wanting to start an argument about wounded pride, so it was easier to pretend that he just hadn’t had the time to look for another apartment to live. (It was partially true. Lio _was_ busy. He just also happened to shoot down anyone’s offer to look on his behalf.)

“You’re still up,” Galo padded across the small living room, staring down at Lio stretched out like a cat across the couch with papers strewn in his lap.

“Astute observation.” Lio said wryly, no bite in his voice. “I’m redrafting the conditions of our assimilation into Promepolis as well as — ”

Galo shushed him, uncharacteristically quiet. “It can wait until tomorrow.” He reached down to push Lio’s tablet away from his face. Lio pulled it out of reach with a frown etched on his face.

“You’re still awake too.” Lio pointed out, resisting the urge to _pout_. Galo blinked at him owlishly. “Well?”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” Galo admitted, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Lio rolled his eyes.

Normally, this was the point where Galo would purposefully rile him up. He would pounce on him to wrestle the tablet away, or he would call him an insomniac with _just_ enough smugness that Lio would have no choice but to have to rise to the bait and call him a deflated porcupine.

Instead, the notable glint in his eyes was gone. Lio looked, and there was only exhaustion. “Just...don’t stay up too late, okay?” Galo punctuated it with a sigh and shook his head as though he was disappointed.

Lio almost dropped the damn tablet in shock as Galo actually dropped it and went back to his room without another word. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t focus on the document in front of him. Everything felt dry and overwrought.

He would up on the couch with a sore neck and cottonballs in his mouth. Galo was singing to himself in the kitchen and making eggs, dressed only in his boxers and his hair still damp, and Lio had to wonder if he was making the whole thing up after all.

* * *

Lio didn’t tell Galo he needed to stop by the station — firstly, he had no keeper and owed it to no one, much less Galo, an agenda of where he was at all times. Secondly, (and perhaps more accurately) he wanted to catch Galo off-guard, to maybe capitalize on a moment where he could squeeze a little bit of a truth out of him.

Apparently, for the Burning Rescue, it was a lazy day. Despite half of the station in need of desperate repair, most of the squad was in the lounge, each separately working on an individual project and yet so intimately and comfortably sharing their space.

“Where’s Galo?” In his defense, he hadn’t _meant_ for it to be the first thing he said, he was just startled by the decided eyesore of electric blue in his vision. Aina blinked up at him and peeled her headphones away from her ears.

“Should’ve known you weren’t here just to see us,” Lucia pouted in the corner, not even glancing up. Varys just laughed.

“He _was_ in the weight room,” Aina offered helpfully. “But now he’s behind you.”

Lio felt rather than heard the cheer of _Fotia!_ from behind him before anything else. Galo’s arms wrapped around his waist and he didn’t have a moment to protest before he was hoisted up in the air. 

Lio wrinkled his nose. “You’re sweaty.”

Galo laughed. “Sorry, sorry,” he apologized without sounding sorry at all. He still didn’t most him down. Lio struggled the minimal amount just for appearance’s sake but he had a feeling the small smile on his lips was a dead giveaway. “Whatcha doing here?”

“I need to talk to Captain Ignis.” He gave a more pointed wiggle and Galo took the message to put him back down on his feet. “Afterwards, let’s go home together.”

Lucia, for an unknown reason, snorted at that. Varys bravely tried to shush her. “Shut up, guys!” Galo whined, cheeks inexplicably sick. Lio tilted his head curiously.

“Idiots,” he mumbled to himself, shooting them all one last glance before he stalked off to find the captain.

When he and Galo finally went home, Lio wrapped his arms a little tighter around Galo as the bike rumbled underneath of him. _What_ , he thought to himself desperately, finding the rhythm of his pounding heart. _Aren’t you telling me?_

Nobody answered him.

* * *

“Scoot over.” Galo was entirely too loud for...well, for whatever ungodly time it was. Lio forced his sleep-crusted eyes to open and glanced at the bedside clock, the numbers burning into his retina.

“It’s 3 in the morning,” Lio croaked. “What do you _want?_ ”

“You were having a nightmare.”

Was he? His blankets weren’t tangled around him and his shirt wasn’t soaked in sweat. In fact, he felt completely fine besides the bone-deep exhaustion he constantly felt as of late. The comforter was peeled away from his body and he shivered at the blast of cold air. “I don’t think I was — ”

The second he saw Galo’s expression, he snapped his mouth shut. Galo looked so small when normally he was so big and proud. He took up so much space with his laugh, his voice, his everything. He was so unapologetic about existing that Lio, for a brief moment, thought he was looking at a stranger; because in his bed, forcing himself into Lio’s space, he looked...haunted.

“Yeah,” Lio heard himself agree from very far away. “Okay.”

Galo curled up on the mattress too small for two grown men, fitting his head right under Lio’s chin until Lio was practically spooning him. He shuddered as he felt Galo breathe right onto his exposed collarbone like the first spark of a fire. “Are you still cold?” Galo asked, right into his skin.

“A little.” Lio lied. Right now, it was the opposite. Everything felt too warm, heat itching under his fingertips like the will of the Promare. _Burn_ , he could hear its request like a distant echo but the voice sounded a little too much like his own. He didn’t know what to set ablaze, this time. Galo blamed him for making him light his first fire and yet equally refused to take responsibility for the kindling he had placed inside Lio’s ribcage.

Before he could say any of that — before he could gather his courage to ask what any of it meant, Galo began to softly snore. _Typical,_ he thought fondly to himself. Galo calls himself Lio’s friend without permission and then goes ahead and makes Lio fall for him without permission.

Those thoughts mattered a little less to him than the way Galo was occasionally twitching in his sleep, mumbling a word that Lio couldn’t quite make out. He filed it away for later, tucking it somewhere safe where he could take his time to unravel it all. He buried his face into the nest of soft hair and slept surprisingly well despite the cramped conditions.

The next morning he managed to worm his way out from Galo’s grip without waking him. Lio left a note on the fridge for him and told him not to wait up for him for dinner and jolted at how horrifically _domestic_ the whole set-up was. 

Those thoughts chased him all the way to the Promepolis courthouse where Meis and Guiera were waiting for him outside in order for them to negotiate the ex-Burnish’s reparations. No amount of money would ever be enough to heal their scars, but for many it would be the start they needed to create a new life. For now, it would have to be enough.

Everywhere he went, he turned heads. Everyone knew him now, and anonymity was a distant memory. Some people thanked him. Some even smiled. Most regarded him with the wariness of a muzzled dog — not an active threat, but a threat nonetheless. Lio sometimes spotted hate in their eyes, but it was becoming a more rare occurrence.

“I’m getting married.” A woman — ex-Burnish, sat down next to him, her hands folded in her lap. Lio shook himself out of his haze and his pen hovered to a halt. “Finally.” Her laugh was a little tight but it was genuine. Lio followed her gaze to a man talking to one of the overwhelmed volunteers who was quick to hand him a stack of papers and a pen.

“He’s not Burnish,” Lio observed for no specific reason.

“No,” she shook her head. “We figured the world almost ended, so we should probably pick up the pace and do it sooner rather than later.” Outside, parts of the city were still buried in rubble. For some, the world really _had_ ended.

Lio felt like he was fighting through a haze. “Doesn’t it bother you?” Most of the time, he wasn’t even angry anymore. He was just...tired. “That you both waited until you could no longer call upon the Promare?” That they waited until neither one of them was Burnish but also not quite something else.

To his surprise, she wasn’t offended and only laughed again. “If me being Burnish was a problem I would have dumped him years ago.” She brushed her hair out of her face. “The world is changing, and I changed too.” Her darks eyes met his and didn’t waver. She put her warm hand over his. “I think it’s going to change for the better.”

And wouldn’t that be something? Lio thought he was beginning to understand, now. “If you run into any trouble let me know.” His lips twitched into an almost-smile. “I’ll give them hell.” He would still fight for all of them.

“Thank you. I can do that on my own, but thank you.” She smiled, looking touched. She got to her feet. “You know? I’m glad everyone gets to start over together.”

Lio tilted his head. “Me too.” He admitted, his thoughts trailing off to Galo unbidden. Was that what they were doing? Starting over? Building a new world that was only going to get better? 

He wondered it about it into the next day and the day after that.

* * *

  
  


Things finally boiled over. 

The worst part was that Lio didn’t mean it — he didn’t mean to push in the way he had, and he didn’t even realize that the temperature was rising when it happened. He was in a sour mood and chose to vent the pulsing headache pounding behind his forehead in a familiar way; by sniping at Galo.

Galo, who always matched him stride for stride.

“You’re an eyesore,” he snapped. It was immediately the wrong thing to say and Lio regretted it before he even finished saying it. Something in Galo’s expression flashed _hurt_ before it became guarded. Galo was always an open book. Right now, he looked like someone else entirely.

“Oh, am I?” His tone was frigid and detached. “I’ll get out of your hair then, _mad prince._ ” His lip curled into a sneer and he turned on his heel.

Lio floundered for something to say as his mind tried to catch up with the turn of events that had turned so nasty so _fast_. “Wait — ” The protest was weak even to his own ears and it didn’t make a difference. Galo marched out the door and slammed it shut behind him. 

Lio stared at the suddenly empty space helplessly, grinding his teeth together. The apartment was too quiet. Galo sucked all the life and warmth out of it and took it with him.

Lio knew that he wasn’t the only one with a fiery temper or a sharp tongue. Both he and Galo had a stubborn streak a mile wide and three miles deep and this entire time he hadn’t realized that Galo was just a hair’s breadth from snapping. Lio had hit a button — he punched an exposed nerve he hadn’t realized was there until just now.

He wracked his brain, he forced himself to go over the encounter step by step like reviewing a fight he had barely won. He looked for his mistakes. He tried to pinpoint the exact moment he chipped a piece of Galo off and went over it again and again.

It was hard to say. Lio didn’t know Galo as well as he pretended to.

It was why he didn’t chase after him. He waited for him to come back, breathing deeply and followed the air into his lungs until he was able to unclench his fists. Galo returned approximately two hours later and didn’t say a word to him. He just went straight to bed.

He did the same thing the day after.

And the day after that.

The thing was, Lio had patience in spades. He knew what it was like to have to lie in wait — most of his life was spent in the dark until it was just the right moment to strike a match. He waited his whole life for the perfect time to die for a cause he had thrown himself into. Somehow, he had come out from the other side — not quite unscathed, but he was still here. It had to count for something.

Right now, Lio did not have that patience. He was worn out in a way that only came from lifetimes of struggles. His shoulders ached from the weight he had carried up until now.

So he did as he was wont to do: he brought the fight to Galo. In this case he parked the bike in front of the station and waited all day for him to stop hiding. When he had, he beckoned for Galo with his hand in a reminiscent manner of their first meeting.

“Come on,” he ordered, though his voice wasn’t unkind.

Galo crossed his arms over his chest and and didn’t move.

“Please.” Lio added, softer.

He didn’t move right away but he could see his resistance draining out of his body. Galo sighed and swung his leg over the bike behind him. “Okay. Fine.” He loosely held onto Lio’s waist. “Lead the way, your majesty.” His words lacked any real bite.

Lio didn’t bother to grace the comment with a response and revved the engine, taking off down the street. He didn’t stop for a long time, crossing run down streets and passing dilapidated buildings.

He drove them to the heart of the Parnassus. If Galo was surprised, he didn’t show it. Lio parked the bike as gracefully as he could and hopped up onto a large slab of rock, hands in his pockets. 

“What’s up?” Galo didn’t follow him upwards but walked on the ground to keep Lio in eye’s sight. The way he asked the question made Lio wonder if he really was going insane, because it wasn’t _him_ that had hardly said a word to the other beyond ‘I have to go to work now’ and ‘are you going to finish that?’ That was all Galo and for a moment Lio wanted to remind him of that with a kick in the face.

Lio perched himself on top. “I’m sorry.” He said bluntly, staring down at his face. Galo had the audacity to look _shocked_.

“For what?”

Lio hardly refrained from picking up a pebble and hurling it at his _stupid_ face. “For making you mad. I hurt you.”

Galo frowned and finally climbed up next to him, their shoulders almost brushing. “I ain’t angry.” He promised, voice nothing but sincere.

“Bullshit,” Lio shot back at him.

“It’s true!” He pushed at him lightly. “I’m not mad at you! I would know better than you.”

Lio had to acquiesce to that. “Then what are you?” He pinned him in place with his stare. Galo turned away first, strangely silent for a long moment.

“Upset. But not anymore,” he hastily tacked on the disclaimer. Lio waited for him to elaborate. Galo sucked a breath in through his teeth. “And I mean. I _was_ mad, but only for like a few hours. It pissed me off to be called an eyesore.”

Lio looked down at his knees and shook his head. “You’re not an eyesore,” he said. “I said it without thinking or meaning it. I’m sorry.” Galo was many things; loud, loyal, brave, and maybe stupid to a fault — but an eyesore he was not.

“Thanks.” Galo’s voice was quiet but it sounded lighter and some of the pressure that was making it hard for Lio to breathe had lifted.

“Is that all?” Lio forced himself to ask, scooting closer to him. 

Galo squirmed like a fly caught in a web. “Yep,” he lied, very badly. “You want pizza tonight?”

Lio flicked his forehead for that. “Is it work?” He began his interrogation, eyes narrowed. “Are you tired?” He ignored Galo’s protest that his burning heart wouldn’t be extinguished by a little bit of overtime and barrelled onwards. “Is it me?”

Galo’s eyes widened. “No,” he breathed out, almost reverently. Lio relaxed fractionally. “It’s not — agh!” He made a sound of frustration and gripped his hair. “I’m a liar! I am angry!” 

Lio held his breath but didn’t dare move.

“But I’m not angry at you!” His voice got louder, into an almost shout. “I’m mad because I’m stupid and I know it! I know I’m easy to take advantage of because I trust everyone even when I _shouldn’t_!” Galo’s cheeks were pink with exertion and worse than that, his eyes were becoming watery.

Lio lifted his hand helplessly before he swallowed and gripped Galo’s wrist loosely. “You’re not stupid,” his mouth felt dry. “Well. Not for that.”

Galo gave a watery laugh and turned his face away, using his free hand to wipe at his face. “I shouldn’t complain to you about it.”

“Because it’s about Kray?” Lio guessed. The way Galo flinched at the name was telling enough, but he confirmed it with a small, almost imperceptible nod. Lio let out a steady stream of breath, unsure of how he was meant to handle this. “You...you’re allowed to be upset.”

Lio used to despise Kray Foresight with an all encompassing fire that threatened to tear his body apart. He wanted to burn him into a crisp and tear apart everything he stood for. That hatred had left him too. He would never forgive him, but he had no more time or energy to give to him. Kray had already taken so much and Lio wouldn’t give him anything else.

“Why should I be upset over such a...such an _awful_ guy?” Galo picked up a small piece of rubble and hurled it as far as he could.

“You didn’t know.” Even to Lio’s own ears it sounded weak. Judging from the small noise Galo made, he wasn’t convinced. He brushed his bangs away from his eyes. “No. Listen,” he began. “Awful or not, he was a huge part of your life. You’re allowed to mourn that he wasn’t the person you thought he was.”

He hesitantly moved closer towards Galo and fitted himself against his side, carefully taking his larger hand into his own. “He betrayed _you_ ,” Lio swallowed. “That says more about his character than yours and I’m...I’m glad you’re the kind of person to believe in the best of others.”

Honestly, he wasn’t sure if they would be there had Galo not taken a similar chance on him.

“Well that’s easy,” Galo said it so flippantly that Lio had no choice but to accept that Galo genuinely believed that.

Lio tightened his grip on Galo’s hand. “No.” He interrupted, voice sharp. “It’s really not.” He lifted his gaze to the horizon and stared into the setting sun for a long while. “But that’s the good thing about now. You get to start over, without him.”

Galo made a soft sound but didn’t interrupt.

“We all do.” Lio continued. “This time, we’re going to do it better.” For a new world that they fought to save. Galo squeezed his hand tightly.

“Yeah?” He double checked, sounding amused.

The sky beyond the rubble bled red and pink but twilight was coming, and with it, some peace. Lio smiled.

“Yeah.”


End file.
